Obligatory filler post

I've noted more than a few times that I haven't made a single entry for a couple of weeks. Thus, I shall ramble on for the next paragraph or two about semi-exciting developments.

It's been an interesting week, actually. I was feeling a bit down on Tuesday for reasons unknown, and then was up again as my 4-day weekend started after work on Wednesday. I made my way to Sydney on Thursday for Morgan's birthday dinner and drinks at the Belgian Beer Cafe, shortly followed by more drinks at nearby Jackson's. It was (relatively) a pretty quiet night for me, as I was going to be backing up on Friday for another full day, where I would meet up with Matt for some time geeking out at the comic store, then meet up with Dave and Josh to head over to the Swans game (Swans won, hooray for Sydney).

Somewhere in all that mess, I also managed to finally get my hands on The Illogical Consequence by Planet Funk, which is probably the most expensive album I have ever bought, on account of it being insanely and unreasonably lacking in availability (you have to import from Italy!). I also got an email from Amazon UK that my copy of I Choose Noise by Hybrid had shipped after experiencing a delay. I've heard the album and I can't wait to have the actual CD, although it's a bit annoying that I had pre-ordered it from the UK in an attempt to get it as early as possible, and I got a pretty lengthy delay anyway.

Hot day today. Gonna head over to the beach.

Time perception

Funny things happen to your brain when you're not in your right mind. For example, in a drunken attempt to figure out what that phone call was all about the other night, I decided to make a few calls. I ended up talking to another stranger for what seemed like a few minutes. However, when I looked at my call history, it was actually only about a minute. The same thing happened when I got that first mystery call while I was half asleep.

Right now I'm a bit under the weather, both figuratively and literally. My head is still recovering from last night, and the rain outside doesn't seem to want to go away. If I didn't have to work in less than half an hour I think I would just stay in bed all day.

Late night phone calls

What is it that makes people talk to complete (non-telemarketer) strangers over the phone?

It was about 1 o'clock this morning, and I was fast asleep. All of a sudden, the sound of my phone ringing (or rather, the phone vibrating on the desk) wakes me up, as it so often does. I answer the phone, still half-asleep, and find that it's a girl I don't know on the other side. I try to tell them, as best as I can in my current state, that they must have dialled a wrong number on whoever's phone it was that they were dialling from. I mentioned where I work and then they mentioned a couple of workmates' names, and what I thought about them. It was probably nothing, but my paranoid self tells me that I was being 'scouted', in a manner of speaking. Either that or the late night hotlines are getting really desperate.

It was a very unexpected and unusual phone call.

Bloody Sunday

I'm not quite sure what came over me yesterday. I had intended to, you know, do stuff seeing as I had the entire day off. I was planning to at least go shopping for some new shoes and watch some DVDs. As the day progressed it became clear that going to the beach would be a very good idea due to the unusually warm weather for early spring. Alas, what occurred was a gross misjudgement of the conditions - I slept for a good part of the day's daylight hours. What's more is that this meant I couldn't find any sleep at night, meaning I got about 2 hours sleep before my opening shift this morning.

Bloody Sunday.

Foos. Acoustic. Money.

I was excited to find out that the Foo Fighters were doing 2 acoustic gigs at the Sydney Opera House in about a month's time. Tickets go on sale mid-week, and I started to write a message trying to organise people to go. Unfortunately, it was then that I read that the tickets would cost around $150 each. Seeing as I spent about a total of $380 on Friday, I think I'll have to skip this one, as tempting as it sounds. The rock concert they did last year was cheaper, and that's the one I'd rather see.

Oh right, there's an upside

Amidst all the hooplah that I had to go through today, there was a good point that should be noted. I went over to IEP to sort out some final details of my trip. While the major things such as visas, flights, and employment had been sorted out, I still had the business of some added extras. Firstly, and probably most importantly, I booked some accommodation through IEP to last me until my bus to Panorama. Secondly, I upgraded to a "Fully Loaded" membership, which means IEP's Canadian partner SWAP would help me out with whatever the hell the reason is that I am there in Canada at the time (or so I hope). Lastly, I also ordered a Lonely Planet guide that IEP were offering at a discount price. I decided to go with the USA and Canada on a Shoestring guide, as Alison (from IEP) had suggested that they tend to be good for people on a budget, as I assume I would be.

It's a bit weird to have almost everything organised about 3 months in advance. In fact, all I really need now is a better backpack and a new pair of shoes. Alison noted that I'm very organised. I'm really not. Not usually anyway. It's just that when it comes to travel, I turn into this machine that just needs everything sorted out. 3 months in advance... yep, I should be a travel agent.

When it all falls apart

Ok, so I know I was being very optimistic in yesterday's post. I was planning a grand day of adventures. I had forgotten that I should always expect the worst. I guess it all started this morning when I was being lazy and left home later than planned. As a result, I had to run the final leg of the trip to the train station so I could get there with time to spare.

The second thing to 'go wrong' was the US visa interview. The actual interview was fine. It was a short sub-5-minute chat about why I was applying for the visa. The wait, however, was incredibly long. I should have learned from the visa application process that it wasn't going to be as quick as I had hoped. Nevertheless, I got out after enduring almost two hours sitting quietly in a room full of similarly bored people.

To top it all off, the whole Belgian Beer Cafe meet up I had planned fell to pieces. Matt decided not to come because it was too far away from his work, Jenny had a massive hangover from last night, and Jim seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. I sat there waiting for Josh for about 40 minutes, having a couple of drinks. I eventually left the place at around 2:30 and headed off to buy some CDs and DVDs and go home.

The twist in the tale is that Josh was actually on his way to the Belgian Beer Cafe as I was leaving. My battery had died so I couldn't tell if he was coming or not. When I got home and charged my phone I got a message from him saying he was on his way. Damn technology.